I die a lot as an Elementalist in PVE :(

[Kagasumi]

I've been levelling a necromancer and an elementalist, trying to decide which to go with to 80. They are both level 15 asuras, with most of the asura lowbie areas completed on both (up to the fire elemental area).

I seem to die a lot more frequently on the elementalist, than I do the necromancer. Pets are part of it, and the shroud ability is also a part of it. But I am not sure what I am doing wrong on the elementalist. If I get 2 monsters on me, I lose a lot of health fast.

Is it typical for an elementalist to run? I feel like I shouldn't run away, but should I?

Is there some sort of trick to not get agro? If I drop AOE spells, I'm bound to get agro.

For every 2 hour play session, my necro might die once, where my elementalist will die about 10 times.

[Shamanic]

I'm not a good gamer so I expect to die, in retrospect perhaps I shouldn't have chosen an elementalist given my rather ancient reflexes but I'm in love with it now so....... yes, dying is not unusual if you get hit as an elementalist. We have a low hp pool and a low armor, however you can boost this with earth or water traits. Since I play support I have a lot of points right now in water and it makes a big difference to me I find. I am an eternal kiter and I run rings around mobs - but the good news is we have a lot of versatility in control. The mob shouldn't need to hit you too much because you can knock it back, root it, slow it, give yourself swiftness and so on.

Although..... it will also depend what weapon set you're using on your elementalist. Are you switching between all your elements and utilising all your control abilities? I play mainly staff and do not have a problem avoiding the majority of damage if I'm being careful so I'm not sure what to advise on the other weapons.

I don't think you should worry too much about comparing necro and elementalist, they are quite different professions as far as I'm concerned.

I will say though, that elementalist does play "easier", if you hide behind someone else, maybe see if you can find a levelling buddy if you're struggling a little

[theWocky]

For every 2 hour play session, my necro might die once, where my elementalist will die about 10 times.

He He - I've been moaning about this like crazy. I just die, die, die all the time.

Glass Cannon. Got to dodge, move and plan targets carefully.

I intend to keep with it, however, as it is so damn versatile with all those difference spells.

[Vexies]

Kiting is your friend. If you stand there and take it you die. I really enjoy double daggers but generally run staff as the long range and escape abilities make it the safer weapon set up to run with. If you kite properly, dodge and use your abilities properly you will not die anymore than anyone else.

[Karizee]

Stack conditions and kite like hell!

I found a staff is good for running with larger groups and scepter/dagger better for soloing. Learn all your spells on all your attunements and learn to switch between for w/e you need for the situation. It can be overwhelming at first since there's so many, but start with one attunement and add more as you get comfy. Don't just rely on fire, you'll get creamed

[Kagasumi]

Thanks for all the great advice.

Something a friend just told me, that monsters even 1 to 2 levels higher than you can give you some pain. Especially as a cloth wearer, a monster 2 levels higher will really hurt. He suggests if I am clearing out my starting area, to go try another starting area to gain a few levels.

[flarecde]

After adjusting my play style I really only die versus more than one enemy. One target is usually pretty easy to just keep rolling around so it never hits you. I prefer scepter / dagger over staff for soloing, though.

[Modify]

i'm able to survive quite alright, and i'm doing suicide aoe pulls all the time because its fun

[TradewindNQ]

Dying is part of growing up as an Elementalist. If you're really getting hammered you can always pick up some other utility skills such as Earth Shield, Mist Form or Arcane Shield which provide limited invulnerability.

I died a lot in my AC run last night...though some of it was obviously my fault

[Ishmur]

I've used to have the same problem: dying a lot. I guess a part of it was building for glass cannon elementalist. More often than not, I chose power/precision gear and put my traits into air and fire trees (level 41 atm). Surely, thoughness and vitality would definitely make it less stressful!

As above posters mentioned, dodging is crucial. When fighting hard-hitting mobs use it to keep your distance. Otherwise, dodge out of spells and dangerous attacks. Also, devote some utility skill slots for defense. I absolutely LOVE Arcane Shield and Mist Form ;-)

I really enjoy staff spells, so can't speak for other weapons. What I found out (after a lot of deaths + trial & error), 'stance-dancing' is the most efficient and probably important part of the class. I usually start with fire spells against single target (also: do Meteor Shower + Arcane Shield combo ), switching to water while casting Glyph of Elemental Harmony when low on health. Chill it, cast Geyser and/or Healing Rain, proceed to air and blind him or push it (beware of Chain Lightning bounces, it's superior to fire against 2-3 mobs, but it is also easy to aggro additional monsters), or swap to earth and immobilize & put some bleeds. Magentic Aura is handy against some fast, hard hitting range mobs (like golems: you can absolutely decimate them when they do a missile barrage).

EDIT: The above is about playing solo vs. harder mobs (veterans, some champions). Most normals, at my level at least, die to fire only.

All in all, just keep on playing I almost gave up on elementalist before hitting ~23, but changed my playstyle and it was definitely worth it I have no experience in dungeons though, maybe I will get frustrated then.

[Zombina]

Keep at it, I find my necro to have quite 'obvious' defenses, ele players do well kiting and switching attunements at the right time, so I'd guess it's a little harder. Some decent advice for now would be to stick with it, I'm certain things will improve as you do

[Eggoman]

I've been levelling a necromancer and an elementalist, trying to decide which to go with to 80. They are both level 15 asuras, with most of the asura lowbie areas completed on both (up to the fire elemental area).

I seem to die a lot more frequently on the elementalist, than I do the necromancer. Pets are part of it, and the shroud ability is also a part of it. But I am not sure what I am doing wrong on the elementalist. If I get 2 monsters on me, I lose a lot of health fast.

Is it typical for an elementalist to run? I feel like I shouldn't run away, but should I?

Is there some sort of trick to not get agro? If I drop AOE spells, I'm bound to get agro.

For every 2 hour play session, my necro might die once, where my elementalist will die about 10 times.

For lower levels I went with dagger/dagger. You have enough burst and mobility to pretty much down most mobs. Make sure you get arcane wave that gives you a blast finisher.

Staff is harder to start with and the learning curve is actually easier once you get the trait which makes your AoE spell radius much, much larger. I find myself cycling alot more through my attunements. For staffs I do this:

Earth Attunement
Eruption
Unsteady Ground
Shockwave

Switch to Fire Attunemnet
Lava Front
Flame Burst
Flaming retreat

Usually mobs are dead if only one. If multiple then.

Switch to Lightning
Static Field
Run/roll to gain distance

Switch to Earth
Shockwave
Eruption
Unsteady Ground

Then go to fire and repeat.

If I'm low on health I weave in a water attunement wherever.

Ranged dps is probably the most easiest for me to deal with. I basically avoid all the attacks by: Rolling, Magnetic Aura, Flaming Retreat, Arcane Shield

[romara]

I've been levelling a necromancer and an elementalist, trying to decide which to go with to 80. They are both level 15 asuras, with most of the asura lowbie areas completed on both (up to the fire elemental area).

I seem to die a lot more frequently on the elementalist, than I do the necromancer. Pets are part of it, and the shroud ability is also a part of it. But I am not sure what I am doing wrong on the elementalist. If I get 2 monsters on me, I lose a lot of health fast.

Is it typical for an elementalist to run? I feel like I shouldn't run away, but should I?

Is there some sort of trick to not get agro? If I drop AOE spells, I'm bound to get agro.

For every 2 hour play session, my necro might die once, where my elementalist will die about 10 times.

Yea, my Elementalist is pretty squishy too. If I get 2 or more on me I need to circle strafe to even have a chance to survive. Even then if the area I'm in isn't open enough and I have to adjust my strafing I'm most likely toast. If I get knocked down, I'm done. I've been trying to stick with a group or just be careful when pulling. I'm sure things will be re-tuned soon. Some of the mobs just seem a bit overpowered. I do have a lot of fun playing my Elementalist though, he's 27 atm.

[Doozerjun]

judicious use of attunement swapping and dodge is how I do it on my elementalist. Make sure you know what each of your ability does in each attunement so that you just aren't button mashing. If up against multiple opponents, take down the range first while kiting the melee. Use your daze and other stun effects when appropriate.

[TradewindNQ]

Some pretty complicated setups here :P I've found that my usual "blast that asshole with fireballs while using lava font at their feet" to be pretty effective. If I need to, strafe around tossing more fireballs and flame bursts. /shrug

[Mkill]

I`ve been playing ele with double daggers/3 arcane traits (fire and air points) and having a blast so far.
I usually play in a zone 2-3 lvls ahead of me and my death (not downs) count is probably around 3 for lvl gained.
Just be aware of your surroundings and make sure you know exactly which skills you have and what they do.

[Ghosty]

I've been leveling my Elementalist with a Fire/Earth build using primarily staves so far. For utility spells I've been running with all defensive spells, Armor of Earth, Arcane Shield, and Vapor form, with the summon elemental elite skill. For my 10 point Earth trait I picked Armor of Earth, so I get a free Armor of Earth if my health goes below 50%. Using this set up I find soloing very easy, and I can take a crap ton of damage even when dealing with multiple mobs and when things go really bad I have plenty of tricks to help me survive or escape.

[Cyclone Jack]

72 Ele here, and I will say that certain mobs can be much more difficult than others, depending on which weapons you are using. For utility when soloing, I highly recommend the Elementals, as they are pretty good at grabbing a bit of threat and giving you some breathing room. Once you get to 30, go dual elementals and they'll let you deal with champions and various skill challenges fairly well (stone for major, water for minor). Also, you really do need to swap attunements, especially when things start to go south. While I started with Scepter/Dagger, I eventually started playing Dagger/Dagger with the occasional Staff. I *REALLY* hope they set up an easy way to swap weapons out of combat on the Ele (eg: GW1 weapon sets in the corner of your screen), since you have to drag and drop your off-hand dagger every. single. time.

My only real complaint is that the weapons do not seem overly balanced from a risk/reward standpoint. Granted, I've not PvPed yet, so I have no idea how well the different weapons perform there.